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[ 19 ] a winter ride

characters: technoblade, carl (yes, the horse)
type: domestic slice of life thingy
au: dream smp, at a not specified point of time during the retirement arc
warnings: none

I've been writing exclusively nsfw for the past few weeks but I dont have the guts to finish any of it, so have this short piece I wrote in a fit of inspiration after today's riding lesson. Because I'm a useless Techoblade simp and an even more useless horse person.

Not proofread, yell at me if you find mistakes.

X-x-X-x-X

- techno's pov -

Techno checked the tightness of Carl's girth for the last time before he put a foot in the stirrup and hoisted himself up, swinging the other leg up and over and gently placing his weight in the saddle. Carl started walking before he even adjusted his seat or picked up the reins, ears pricked excitedly in direction of the forest.

Techno smiled and patted his neck, letting his horse decide the way. They weren't on any quest or looking to go somewhere specific, they were just going for a nice, relaxed ride - because it had been way too long since Techno had had time for Carl. Considering he was supposed to be retired, he was pretty busy.

Today, though, he decided to take the day off. He'd left Tommy with Ghostbur (they were building a house or something, Techno'd deal with that later), promising to take his younger brother with him on a ride another time. He wanted to be alone today, and Carl was good company for that type of days.

The crunch of snow beneath Carl's hooves gave way to the almost soundless rustling of spruce needles covering the ground as they entered the forest, Carl following their usual path through the trees. Techno shortened his reins a bit and tensed a little. The dense spruce forest never truly lightened up and mobs were able to hide the entire day. Carl responded to him immediately, picking up his pace and throwing his head a little, snorting nervously.

"Good boy, Carl, calm down, it's alright."

Muttering soft words to calm down the horse, Techno stroked over the warm, fluffy fur on his neck and forced himself to relax.

They made their way through the forest, avoiding frozen lakes and the occasional berry bushes. The further they got, the more unfamiliar the terrain was and Techno took over finding the path instead of letting Carl go where he wanted. The horse had calmed down a little but his ears were still flickering from side to side and Techno could feel his eagerness to get forward, he had to actively hold him back to keep him from bolting off. He tried to remember the last time he took Carl for a ride outside so he could stretch his legs and cringed guiltily when he couldn't. Sure, Carl had a nice patch of land fenced in for him to run around, but that wasn't the same. He should really pay more attention to his horse.

Eventually, the forest became lighter, the trees were further apart and the weak northern sun actually made it all the way to the bottom. The crunch of snow had returned to the sound of their steps, layers of old needles mixing with formerly white, now dirty snow.

Techno nudged Carl's sides with his heels and clicked his tongue, asking for a trot. He half expected the leap forward Carl made, excited to go faster and ready to run, but Techno stopped him before anything could even happen. Carl snorted once, upset, but refrained from throwing a tantrum and instead slowed down to a nice trot, carrying his rider through the forest effortlessly. Techno carefully let go of his tight hold on the reins, but still kept them short, just to be safe, even though Carl was well trained and didn't spook easily. (Techno made sure all his horses were potentially able to be ridden in battle and therefore bomb-proof - almost literally, he could shoot firework rockets from Carl's back and the horse wouldn't move a muscle.)